This study examined the effects of an enhanced interdepartmental communications program on productivity at one manufacturing plant of a 62 plant firm. The enhanced interdepartmental communications program was a part of a comprehensive managerial strategy designed to improve plant productivity.
Carpet manufacturing operations in the United States shifted from Northeastern and Midwestern states to Southern states several decades ago as part of industry efforts to become more competitive. While this strategy was generally successful, the American carper manufacturing industry in the 1990s increasingly is being challenged by foreign competitors. Many American firms, when confronted with such situations, opt to relocate production facilities to developing countries. Shaw Industries, headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, however, implemented a different strategy the objective of which was to improve the productivity of its domestic production plants. The strategy adopted by the firm was a total quality management (TQM) program that emphasized to role of team work within the organization. Effective team work, in turn, demanded an enhanced interdepartmental communications environment.
While the assessment of the strategy within the context of changing productivity is a relatively straightforward procedure, such an assessment provides only a short term evaluation. What the top management at Shaw Industries required was an assessment of the probable long term effects of the adopted strategy on the firm's manufacturing productivity. This study examined the strategy within this context.
Following this introductory chapter, a review of the relevant literature is presented in Chapter 2. The research methodology followed in the conduct of the study is described and explained in Chapter 3, while the findings of the research performed are presented in Chapter 4, and the conclusions drawn from these findings are presented in the final chap...